Denisovans in Europe Evolved Into Neanderthals? Ancient DNA Mystery

Did the elusive Denisovans once inhabit the European continent? In a new study that delves into the complex web that is humanity’s prehistory, scientists used artificial intelligence to identify an unknown human ancestor species that modern humans encountered – and had dalliances with – on their long journey out of Africa millennia ago. As it happens, if you subtract the Neanderthal and Denisovan parts of our DNA, there is still something in the genome that is highly divergent. Previous analyses of the hominins from Sima de los Huesos in Spain showed that their maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA was distantly related to Denisovans, extinct relatives of Neandertals in Asia. This was unexpected, because their skeletal remains carry Neandertal-derived features, and because Denisovans are only known to have lived in eastern Eurasia. From the cave, researchers recovered DNA, and more than 7,000 scattered bones, including several smashed human skulls. It was a discovery for the ages. But th